Avimimus

Say it: ah-vee-MEEM-us

Name means: “bird mimic”1

Ate: A bit of everythingOdd feathered dinosLate Cretaceous

Avimimus was a small, fast-running dinosaur that looked a lot like a bird. It had a beak like a parrot and may have had feathers on its arms. Scientists think it lived in what is now Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous period.2 1

Lived

84 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Mongolia and possibly Alberta, Canada1 3

Food

A bit of everything2 3

Length

1.5 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Avimimus had a large brain and big eyes, which helped it see well and think fast.2

Its legs were very long and slender, making it a fast runner. Its shins were longer than its thighs, just like in many speedy animals today.2

The bones in its hand were fused together, just like in modern birds. This is one reason scientists think it was very bird-like.2

A fossil bonebed in Mongolia contained at least ten Avimimus individuals together. This suggests they lived in groups, maybe for safety or to find mates.2

Avimimus had a beak with no teeth, but some later fossils show tiny teeth in the front of the upper jaw. Scientists are still studying this.2

When Avimimus was first discovered, scientists thought it had no tail. Later finds proved it did have a tail, just like other dinosaurs.2

AI-made picture of Avimimus — An AI-made picture of how Avimimus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

Myth buster

Myth: Avimimus could fly.

Truth: Some scientists once thought Avimimus could fly because it had bumps on its arm bones that might have held feathers. But most now agree it could not fly and was a fast runner instead.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Avimimus
Named by: Kurzanov 19813
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Oviraptorosauria3
Classification: Theropoda > Oviraptorosauria3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 66 million years (Campanian to Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Nemegt, Baruungoyot, Dinosaur Park3
Countries: Mongolia, Canada3
Fossil records: 8 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Avimimus was named by Russian paleontologist Sergei Kurzanov in 1981. He found the fossils in Mongolia and thought they came from the Djadokhta Formation, but later scientists think they actually came from the Nemegt Formation.2 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure what Avimimus ate. It might have been an herbivore, an insectivore, or an omnivore. The beak and possible tiny teeth give clues, but no one knows for sure.2

Where the facts come from

Avimimus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Avimimus (en.wikipedia.org)
Avimimus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@dinowiki.app and we will fix it.